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I'm surprised so many people found out over the telephone. At Planned Parenthood they made you come in for the results, whether positive or negative, so they could provide counseling.

That was my thought too. I had two "guards" outside the room when I was told to make sure I did not leave without counseling first. That two week 'waiting' period is somthing else too. I remember calling and calling and kept getting, we can't tell you anything over the phone...must be in person...

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"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was" Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV1993AZTNorvir1994-2001Crixivan/Epivir/ZeritNo Meds for 7 Years

I'm surprised so many people found out over the telephone. At Planned Parenthood they made you come in for the results, whether positive or negative, so they could provide counseling.

Likewise. I was told in person as that was the only option anyone was given back then ('89). Also I was offered counseling if I wished. I did not need the counseling but I remember the sensitivity, compassion, and professionalism of the the staff of that clinic. It did make a difference in the way the rest of my day panned out. It is horrible the way some the forum members were informed. More in line with a processing plant than a professionally staffed health clinic or doctors office. Totally f**ked up!

I was on a business trip in San Francisco when my insurance agent called to tell me my application had been declined for medical reasons. He said he did not know the reason, but that it had to be life threatening and it was essential I call my doctor. I knew then and there that I had "flunked" the HIV test.

It was Jan. 9, 2006 at my doctors office in a small town in a small town about 150 miles south of St. Louis. (That's the short version).

I had gone to my doctor on December 22, 2005 because of swollen lymph nodes. She drew blood for a number of tests, one of them being an HIV test because she knew I was gay. I didn't hear anything all through the New Years and I guess I really didn't think about it taking so long. I chalked it up to the holidays. On Friday, Jan. 6, 2006 my doctor calls and said the test had come back negative. I went out and celebrated that night. I actually met a very nice guy that unfortunately I never called because things were about to change big time.

Then on Monday, Jan 9, 2006 I get a call in the early afternoon from the doctor's nurse. She said "we need you to come by the office after work today. And if you can't make it by 5 PM we will wait for you." Well, doctors don't call you to their office and say they will wait just to give you good news. I guess I can be thankful they didn't just tell me over the phone. But by the time I got to the office I had already figured out the scenario. They would put me in a room (which they did immediately) and then my doctor would come in, she would sit down, look at me, and say "I'm sorry, there was a mistake, your HIV test was actually positive." Which is pretty much exactly as it turned out. The explanation was that they tested for both HIV 1 and HIV 2 and the test results got separated. The HIV 2 was negative and it came back first. I did fine getting the news, probably because it was what I expected with the call back and such. But the 45 minute drive back home was pretty intense with a lot of soul searching and a bit of crying. I told my two best friends that night but didn't tell anyone else for about a month.

February 18, 2008. I was at work when I got a call from the blood bank I gave blood to 5 days previous. The lady of the phone wouldn't tell me why, but I needed to go see the medical director. I knew what that meant. I went to see him and he said "You have HIV and you can NEVER give blood again.". No crap. Talk about bedside manner.

We were never offered cousoling nor were we given any information. I didn't even know about the side-effects from meds until I came here 6mths ago - over 7yrs after dx. When we went back for another test, we were given a handfull of prescriptions and an appointment card telling us to go back in 2wks. No help, no encouragement, no counsoling, no suggestions, no information. I'd never thought about until now.

April 12th 1984 at my doctor's office. Took a free HIV test when I went in for a yearly physical because he was given the test and he wanted to see what the results look like on paper. Well, I tested positive. He freaked out being the first test he has ever given and I was a family friend. It took him longer to quit crying, then it did me and then he recommended me to another doctor for follow up care and that's where I am today.

Like Jan I was in a hospital bed going through a severe seroconversion. My Doctor who I have known for years admitted me under the pretense that he needed to do some more tests, he already knew the results of my HIV test. But he waited to tell me until I was in the hospital. He really did handle it well, I am very thankful for his great bedside manner. We now joke that I have broken him in well. He immediately went and found the best ID doctor that he knew of and asked him to take my case. I am blessed with good doctors.

sitting in my car on wed, sept 12 930ish am. late for work, parked adjacent to my work buidling typing away. dr called, i cried, told the fam & friends. then told my boss & went home. it was a beautiful day in so cal; i like it here.

Around Spt. 27th, 2007, I had gone in for STD's after a woman claimed I gave her Gential Herpes. WHen I went to my GP & ask for test he ask if I wanted an HIV test while I was at it. I just figured why not! The next week I was working in Yuma, AZ when my GP called and said I need to come into the office for a visit. I was 200 miles from home so I got it out of him. He said I tested clean for everything else but came up + for HIV. He then prceeded to lecture me about safe sex, told me he just gave me a prescription for Viagra and I was being promiscus. He then proceeded to tell me that I can be arrested for having un-protected sex with woman. Not one word of advice, or symathy. SO for the next few weeks I was a total wreck. I had no one to talk too, I wasn't aware of the new meds that were out & assumed that I would be dead soon. ANyway here I am healthy as ever and I beleive that I will die of a normal death befroe this takes me.

Oh & I never have gone back to the GP all I want to do is tell him to go F' himself & remiind him of his oah & greed he took.

HUSBAND'S RESULTS - June 2007, on my parent's front porch on the phone after my grandma's funeral. At least I could have an excuse for the tears.

MY RESULTS - September 2007, in a little bitty out-dated clinic room at the VNA after deciding to get re-tested due to a weird bout of canker sores and hives (and paranoia). (I had to have been infected approx 2 weeks before my husband got tested.)

Follow up appointment with my doctor. He told me I didn't have Mono.....and then just matter-of-factly said "you've tested positive for HIV" and then wished me luck and sent me across the hall to the HIV clinic. Blah.

Officially during 1989 while I was in college. I was at an Army Recruiting Base in Bayamon, PR. I was escorted by 2 GI's when I entered the premises and when I left. I was calm about the news but I never understood why the need of the escorts like if I was a terrorist or something! Funny because out of about 18 candidates to enroll that week I had the best scores in all the aptitude tests! Their lose!

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Catman

Meow to the birdsMeow to the tree'sMeow to the endof this dreadful disease...

Hey thanks Ronnie, that was over 10 years ago, I am in a better place now, realized that I may die of old age now instead of AIDS, treatmen t was better when I became infected, if it had been 6 years earlier, I may not be here today

September 2007 - Planning period in my classroom. Cell phone rang 10 minutes before my final class of the day. Saw it said "Doctor"...picked up and the rest is history. Kids came in 10 minutes later with me a basket case.

It was Monday, August 9th, 2004 at about 2:30 pm.I went with my boyfriend July 23rd 2004 for the blood work.I was told abruptly by a nurse of Russian descent :" you're poz, don't worry, these days, you can live 10-20 years" , and she handed me a pamplet, said read this, and left me in the room by myself.NO COMPASSION AT ALL.My boyfriend was tested negative, and remains negative. We just celebrated our 4th anniversary, on April 30th.

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Diagnosed, Monday, 8/9/2004, 1ST year was ruff , now I am well adjusted .Current Med's ; Kaletra & TruvadaUndetecable,<48 , 531 tcells, 21%Keeping the faith, that they will get a cure in our lifetime.LIVE , LOVE , LAUGH

New to the forum here. I took a rapid test on 2/7/08, at the local glbt clinic, it came back positive for the antibodies to HIV. They took blood for a second test and those results came back positive too. They referred me to local HIV specialists, and the rest, as they say, is history. It was quite a surprise, but I went home that night and just was thankful that with today's meds, that there is a fighting chance to have a full life In addition, I did alot of mental and emotional housecleaning and decided what was important to myself in this world.

May 2001--My one exposure had been 3 months prior. I had one negative test (not knowing it was too early as I was not educated about it at the time), but had gotten a letter from the Red Cross telling me that the tests they had run on my blood indicated possible exposure and to get tested. Told my doctor to order me an HIV test. One week later, they called and told me I needed to make an appointment. Sat in doctor's office sure he'd tell me it was just a false positive (after all, I thought at the time, who actually get it with no risk factors and only one possible exposure), but the door opened and it was written all over his face what the results were......

Sorry that was more than 5 sentences, but I tend to be very wordy when I type.

May 22, 2006 was the day I began to experience severe seroconversion. Tested negative at that time. Thus, today I'm 2 years old.

June 8, 2007: Received call from the doctor's office while I was at work around 4 PM. Tried to set appointment for the next day, but new what was up, so stated I would be over in 15 minutes (small town). Told my administrative assistant and my City Clerk that I was going, and what I likely thought was going to happen.

Got the news. The doctor (family practitioner in the far-flung suburbs) was rather timid in the news. I was numb, naturally, but otherwise ready to press on. Was told I should find a specialist that he could refer me too (no further tests, nada). So sweet, huh?

Went back to City Hall and my office. My assistant looked up at me from her desk and I shook my head. Everyone cried for me in my department. I shed not one tear. Called everyone in the office and informed them of my test. The one thing that I'll always remember is turning my head and seeing my Development Inspector, a 72-year old man, in tears for me. (OK, more than 5 sentences, but still a searing memory).

Like Iggy's thread, my anniversary is tomorrow. It was the Friday before Memorial Day. My doctor called and told me that the ELISA had come back positive on Tuesday, and we were waiting for the Western Blot, and "that's where we are now." I kept quiet for three days, not wanting to worry my partner who had helped nurse me through a recent surgery for freakishly enlarged lymph nodes. Then my doctor called me Friday and all the pieces fell into place in my head, like Tetris, and I began to face my own mortality at 33.

I went home and told my partner, and he confessed that he really couldn't remember the last time he'd been tested.

Prior to this my post was six sentences. I'll be the first to say that my time is not limited. That's like being told you have six to twelve months--fuck a bunch of that.

GYN suggested the test as part of my yearly exam. Went back a week later on December 22, 1993 to get my results, I had just turned 24 the previous November. Over the echo of "8 to 10 years" playing over and over in my head, I said out loud to the doctor, "This couldn't have happened to a better person. This will NOT get me." I drove home, numb, to tell my BF I was poz and I must have gotten it from him, bec he was the only one I had ever had unprotected sex with. He "tested" the next month but turns out he had been poz since May '88, knew it and didn't tell me. We married a year later in October '94 and he died of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in August '96.

My gosh! These stories are really making me tear-eyed. Specially "Hankgaguy" and "Moonlight". It really requires a brave heart to call everyone at the office and share the news like in Hankgaguy's story. I would really like to know how things have worked out at the office since that moment until now. And Moonlight, it requires a big heart full of love to marry the man who infected you. I admire that because your way and age of getting infected was very similar to mine. I never hated the guy afterwards for infecting me. He was a "bad boy" but hate was never in my heart. As a matter of fact, I think of him and just feel sadness because I see now that he was afraid and lonely. That was in the 80's when there wasn't much news or treatments available. Who wouldn't be scared and desperate like him. He passed away about two years after infecting me in 1986. Hate, anger, nor depression have ever dominated my heart and maybe that's one of the reasons why I've managed to live quite long and healthy until now...I think having bad emotions locked in our heart and mind can have a whiplash effect on our health. We should always try to be friendly with others, love ourselves for who we are, and be patient and loving even with those who have hurt us (obviously, the grudge may appear every now and then, but I get rid of it asap)

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Catman

Meow to the birdsMeow to the tree'sMeow to the endof this dreadful disease...

June 16, 2005 got the call at work, "no I can't say on the phone when can you come in." I left work and was told 30 minutes later. The next call was to my partner to get tested. He got tested and was told he was positive on my birthday a week after I was told. We are both on medication.Jeff

Wow! Amazing stories... I haven't been around in a long time, but I felt compelled to chime in.

It was November 1989. I was at work on Broadway in downtown NYC. I called the doc's office and he told me I had to come in, he wouldn't give the results over the phone. I knew the result right then. I insisted he tell, he did -- "You tested positive, please come to the office." I left work in a daze, crying and crying walking the streets of downtown Manhattan feeling all alone. The rest is kind of blurry. I think I made it to the doc's office a few hours later. Saw him that once and never went back. Denial for 11 years.

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"People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is buit." Eleanor Roosevelt

June 21 1997, Bangkok, doctor's office.I had asked to test my blood for 'heavy metals from air pollution' as I was feeling tired.A visiting friend had said a few weeks before : 'I see your getting used to the tropical climate, you walk much slower than you did before'.'no metals but you have hiv' was the dr's somewhat gleeful statement.While I am happy now to have been diagnosed I told the dr then I hadnt asked to test me for hiv (guess I was in denial too...) the dr's name has since been erased from my file.Started meds in the beginning of July 1997.I think my infection dates from 1992 or 1994.ed for sp err

April 28, 2006 in my docs office. I knew I was in trouble when they called me to some in for the results of what I thought were routine tests. Ironically I had asked for the HIV test as an afterthought. Came home and cried and told my partner, who is still the only one who knows other than my doc and dentist.

July 1997, less than a year after my father passed and found out at my Gp office by myself. Cried hysterically all the way to my Moms house and than sat with her and cried all day.....One of my sadest days ever.

ANGEL

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" My Body Might Be Broken, but My Spirit and Soul are Alive and Well " my personal mantra

I found out twice. Was tooo scared for years to have a needle in my arm so i bought pin-prick home tests from the net (china). Got drunk whilst playing scrabble with boyf and mum, and thought i should test myself. We all did. I was poz. Had to wait till Xmas was over and get a real test at royal free. I was CD$50 and VL 1million 2%, but i felt fine.

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diagnosed Jan '06cd4 50 VL 1miliion 2%

May '08 cd4 310 VL undetectable

truvada and kaletra. they work but i'm very tired. Laughin's good though!

And Moonlight, it requires a big heart full of love to marry the man who infected you. I admire that because your way and age of getting infected was very similar to mine. I never hated the guy afterwards for infecting me. He was a "bad boy" but hate was never in my heart. As a matter of fact, I think of him and just feel sadness because I see now that he was afraid and lonely. That was in the 80's when there wasn't much news or treatments available. Who wouldn't be scared and desperate like him. He passed away about two years after infecting me in 1986. Hate, anger, nor depression have ever dominated my heart and maybe that's one of the reasons why I've managed to live quite long and healthy until now...I think having bad emotions locked in our heart and mind can have a whiplash effect on our health. We should always try to be friendly with others, love ourselves for who we are, and be patient and loving even with those who have hurt us (obviously, the grudge may appear every now and then, but I get rid of it asap)

Catman, you hit the nail on the head, our stories are very similar. My guy was a bad boy too, a long-haired rock n' roller in the late 80s. He didn't handle getting the diagnosis very well at all, obviously. He was only 20 when he found out, and he died when he was 28.

Yes, Catman is indeed correct. Having a great attitude and not looking back are the key to successful living, no matter to what extent that may be.

To answer your question, the people I work with at City Hall have been (for the most part) very supportive of my condition and have fought with me during the worst of the initial news and treatment. I had "reverse seroconversion" issues about a month into the meds and a plethora of staph infections up to MRSA back during Thanksgiving.

The only negative stuff came from one of the city councilman, who wanted me fired after being told I was HIV positive. Well, after a 14-page memorandum to the Mayor, City Council, and their legal counsel informing them of my condition, my prognosis, and my legals rights under ADA, that was resoved.

I've been very fortunate to work in a small (under 5,000) town whose leaders have been very accepting of me, although their familiarity with me from my prior years of service generated a good report and respect that surpassed my HIV status. Many wanted me to become the City Manager recently, to which I had to turn down due to my own professional goals and the fact that I could not take on more stress than what I deal with now (foreclosure crisis, budget crisis, etc. etc.).

I'm actually getting along quite well, although I am very exhausted at the end of my usual 10-12 hour days. I'm working on that, though. The first year I knew was going to require a lot of adjustment. This coming year will be better. Every day will be better.

It's the times that we are presented with tremendous challenge and how we deal with that challenge is what defines our character!